Fold retaining means for draperies



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Jan. 7, 1964 J. E. DWYER FOLD RETAINING MEANS FOR DRAPERIES Filed March16, 1961 INVENTOR. J4 MES f. DWYER United States Patent 0 3,116,784 roanRETAINHNG ME 48 EUR DRAPERIES Flames E. Dwyer, 949 Filbert St SanFrancisco, Qalif. Filed 16, 1961, Ser. No. 96,263 1 (Ilaim. (cl.160-34?) This invention relates to improvements in hangings such ascurtains and drapes. More particularly, my invention relates to a novelstabilizing means for forming and retaining folds of uniform shape inhung draperies.

in the manufacture of draperies, the drapery material is generallygathered and sewed together at evenly spaced intervals along the topedge to form tucks or pleats. It is the purpose of these plea-ts to formdownwardly extending folds of substantially uniform shape when thedrapes are installed. These folds are an essential factor in providingthe eye-pleasing appearance of the drapes. it has long been a problem inthe art to provide draperies having uniform folds which will extend thefull height of the drape and assume the same position each time thedrape is extended along a traverse rod. With some types of material thefolds may be established at least semipermanently by pressing the pleatsalong the full length of the drape and bundling tiem together for aperiod of time to pro-form creases or folds before installing thedrapes. However, with many types of drapery fabrics, especially in thenew synthetic cloth materials such as fiber glass fabrics, this practiceis not effective, and no amount of pro-pressing or bundling can formfolds which will remain for even a short period of time in the draperymaterial. Thus, prior to my invention, the use of these fabrics wasgreatly limited because even with pleats sewed along the upper edge inthe standard manner, the drapes would not hang with uniform folds thatare essential to the attractive appearance of the drapes.

it is therefore one object of my invention to provide a novelstabilizing means for holding together draperies at predeterminedintervals along their width so that uniformly shaped folds will beformed and retained permanently when the drapes are installed andextended along the traverse. The invention may be used with draperieshaving pleats of any suitable type that are permanently sewed along thetop edge of the drape. In general, the inven tion provides a novel,flexible cord or thread, having attached hook-like members spaced alongthe cord for connecting it to the bottom edge of the drapes. Thehooklike members on the cord or the thread may be connected to thedrapes along the edges of the folds, preferably midvay between thepermanent top pleats. The fold-stabiliziug cord is preferably attachedin the rear lower side of the drapery, and with such an arrangement, itwill never be visible and cannot detract from the appearance of thedrape.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fold and stabilizingmeans that may be rapidly and asiiy attached to the drapery materialwithout having to be sewed to it. One of the problems in manufacturingdraperies is that of fitting the area to be covered with a certain sizeof material and with evenly spaced pleats and folds. Frequentlyalterations must be made by changing pleats to take-up or provide morematerial. Each change can effect the position of the fold between pleatsand therefore the exact point of attaching the fold stabilizing cordwill also shift. An important feature of my invention is that the foldstabilizing cord can be quickly and easily removed and adjusted to a newposition when the situation calls for it, without having to remove andsew stitches or by using any other time-consuming procedure. inaccordance with the principles of the invention, the hook-likeconnecting means attached to the stabilizing cord are shaped so that inassembly they can be quickly hooked to the drapery fabric with onesimple hand move- 3,11%,784 Patented Jan. 7, 19%4 ment. Also, whennecessary, they can be easily removed without damaging the draperyfabric.

Another object of the invention is to provide a quick connecting meansfor retaining drapery folds that is inexpensive to manufacture, as wellas being easy to install.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent fromthe following description. The illust-rative embodiments set out in thedrawings and described in detail herein are not intended to limit thescope of the invention as described in the appended claim, but rather isintended to comply with 35 U.S.C. 112.

In the drawings:

PKG. 1 is a front view in perspective of a section of drapery extendedalong and supported by a traverse rod, showing the folds of the drapebeing held with their proper uniform shape by the fold-stabilizingdevice of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view in perspective showing thefold-stabilizing device attached to the lower rear side of a drape inaccordance with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary view in perspective of one formof fold holding device according to the invention. Portions of thedrapery are broken away in order to show how each hook member isattached to hold the drapery fold in its proper sha e;

FlG. 4 is a view in perspective showing a modified form of foldstabilizing device with integral cord and hook members of plasticmaterial.

In FIG. 1 a typical section of drapery lit-is shown as it appears whenextended to its normal width along a traverse rod 11. Along the upperend of the drape lit are formed a series of evenly spaced pleats 12which are separated by flat sections 13 of unpleated material. Thepleats 12 may be of any suitable type, but in every case they provide anexcess of material at intervals along the width of the drape, and in aproperly hanging drape, these intervals of extra material must be shapedto form vertical, uniformly spaced, wave-like folds 14 along the drapelil as shown in FIG. 1. It is the folds M which give the drape it) itsattractive eye-pleasing appearance. To solve the problem of forming andmaintaining the uniform folds 14 throughout the full length of the drape=10, the flexible fold stabilizing device 15 embodying the principles ofthe invention is attached at predetermined locations along a lower edgeof the drape lil.

As shown in FIG. 1, each pleat 12 along the upper edge of the drape 1%creates an outwardly curving fold portion in, and in between the pleats12 are formed inwardly curving fold portions 17. The fold stabilizingcord 15 is preferably attached near the lower edge 18 of the drape andto each of the inwardly curved fold portions 17. When attached, myinvention serves to hold the outwardly curved portions to of the folds14 in their proper shape as the drapery id" is extended along thetraverse rod ll. Such an installation of a fold stabilizing device 15 ona rape lid is shown in greater detail in FIG. 2.

My novel fold stabilizing device 15' as shown in FIG. 3, comprises aflexible cord or thread 19 which is at least as long as the drapesection lit and to which are attached a series of spaced apart attachingmembers The stabilizing cord 19 may be made from any suitable materialsuch as fabric or plastic and it can be of a relatively light gaugebecause the strain on it in holding the folds M is not great. Also,various colors of thread or cord 19 can be used to match the draperymaterials.

The attaching members 20 are evenly spaced along the cord 19 and thisspacing may vary for different types and spacing of the pleats 12 usedin various draperies. The attaching members 2-9 have a general hook-likeconfiguration and they may be formed from any suitable materifl such asany resilient metal or plastic. As shown in 3 the enlarged view of FIG.3, each took-like member 29 has a shank 21 and curved roun end portion22 which is preferably bent back near the shank 21 to form a narrowopening 23 for retaining the drapery material. A tip of the curved endportion 22, which may be pointed for easy penetration of the draperyfabric, is bent outwardly somewhat away from the shank 21. The outwardlybent tip 24 functions as a barb to keep the attaching members 2%, fromfalling out of the draperies 16, despite considerable back and forthmovement of the drapes over long periods of time.

Each attaching member is fixed to the cord or thread 19' by any suitablemeans such as by crimping, bonding, or tying. In the embodiment of FIG.3 each hook-like member 28- has a bent back portion 26 at the end whichis crimp ed against the thread 19 and preferably the shank 21 to keepthe hook 28 from sliding along the thread 19. An advantage of thiscrimping arrangement is that, if necessary, the bent back portion 26 caneasily be relieved slightly to loosen the book 2% and allows it to beadjusted to a new position along the string 19.

Other suitable means may be used, of course, to attach the hooks 2% atpredetermined spaced intervals along the cord or string 19. For example,I may plastically bond either metal or plastic hook-like members 2% tothe string M.

in FIG. 4, I have shown a slightly modified form of fold stabilizingdevice which comprises a plastic cord 33 with integral hook-like plasticmembers 32 spaced at predetermined intervals thereon. Each integral hookmember 32 preferably extends from and lies in a plane at right angles tothe cord 31. The integral cord 31 and hooks 32 may be formed for anysuitable plastic such as nylon by one of the well known plastic moldingmethods. The hook member 32 again has the same general configuration asthe hook members 2-3 with a bent back end portion 33 and sharpened tip34 which would enable each hook 32 to easily penetrate the draperyfabric.

One of the highly advantageous features of my invention is the ease andrapidity with which my novel fold stabilizing device 15 can beinstalled. For example, the locations of the points of attachment forthe hook mem ber 29 or 32 may be easily marked when the pleats 12 aremarked by folding the bottom end 18 of the drape lit up under the topedge and marking the hook attaching points in line with the centerpoints of flat sections 13 between the pleats 1.2. With the drapesection so arranged, the hook members 2t) may be attached at the markedpoints equally distant from the rear lower side of the drape i eachpoint being directly in line with the mid-point of an unpleated point13. Each hook-like 4 member is attached rapidly, and it need only pickup a few strands of the fabric between the shank 21 and the curvedaround end 22 in order to have adequate hold on the drape i The tip 2-?of each hook penetrates easily and yet its shape keeps it from comingfree without being deliberately removed.

When a stments need to be made in the spacing of the folds 1d, thehook-like members 23 are easily removed and reset without having toremove or resew any stitches. This flexibility in adjustment is animportant feature of my invention since it permits the installation ofthe drapes to be made eiiiciently without requiring modifications in theshop.

When equipped with the present invention, the drapery to will alwaysrave attractive, uniform folds 14, no matter what the actual tendenciesof the drapery are to hold or not to hold its shape. vly inventiontherefore greatly increases the range of fabrics wh ch can be used ondraperies by a unique device that is relatively inexpensive and easy toinstall.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, manychanges in construction and widely differing embodiments andapplications of the invention will suggest themselves without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and thedescription herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be inany sense limiting.

I claim:

A fold stabilizing device for a drapery of the type having a series ofspaced apart pleats along its upper edge separated by portions ofunpleated material, said stabilizing device comprising: a flexible cordmember adapted to extend along the width of the drapery; a plurality ofattaching means spaced along said cord member and fixed thereto forrapidly attaching said cord member to said drapery at predeterminedspaced apart intervals between said pleats, each said attaching meanshaving a shank, a hooked portion at one end and a bent ever end portionat the other end of said shank for crimping said cord against saidshank, thereby retaining said attaching means in a predetermined fixedposition on said cord.

The Glass Industry, published by Ogden Publishing Co. (New York). Volume40, page 613 (November 1959) relied on.

